As one should expect from the National Review, the article is both one-sided and dishonest, and I've dissected it in some detail here. But the upshot is that the author, Kyle Smith, has decided that the Democratic party is the 'party of Kaepernick', and he seems to believe this will be simply devastating for Democrats' electoral chances.
Well, since the Republicans are unquestionably the party of Trump, let's spend a bit of time thinking about who comes out looking better in this comparison.
To start with, let's try doing something that very few people have done since Kaepernick first knelt during the national anthem. Let's read what he has to say about his reasons for doing it:
"I'm going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. When there's significant change and I feel that flag represents what it's supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand."Whether one agrees with his methods, his purpose is honorable: using his platform as an NFL player to give voice to the oppressed whose voices cannot be heard. And this one small action was so threatening to people in power (the NFL owners, the Republican party, and Trump) that they took away his platform, and with it, his career.
"This stand wasn’t for me. This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice, people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard, and effect change. So I’m in the position where I can do that and I’m going to do that for people that can’t."
"It's something that can unify this team. It's something that can unify this country. If we have these real conversations that are uncomfortable for a lot of people. If we have these conversations, there's a better understanding of where both sides are coming from."
"I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone. That’s not happening. People are dying in vain because this country isn’t holding their end of the bargain up, as far as giving freedom and justice, liberty to everybody. That’s something that’s not happening. I’ve seen videos, I’ve seen circumstances where men and women that have been in the military have come back and been treated unjustly by the country they fought have for, and have been murdered by the country they fought for, on our land. That’s not right."
There is no question that Kaepernick would still be playing in the NFL if he had never taken this stand. One could argue about whether he'd be a starter, but it's probably fair to assume that he would be earning as much as Teddy Bridgewater, the backup to Drew Brees. That's $5 million both for the 2017 season he missed, and the current 2018 season.
So at a minimum, he's sacrificed his NFL playing career and $10 milliion in career earnings to take this stand. And since leaving the NFL, he has helped to raise more than $1 million for charity.
How does this compare to Donald Trump? How much time do you have?
Well, like Kaepernick, Trump also set up a charity to collect money. But unlike Kaepernick, Trump's charity was actually a self-dealing sham. Trump really only cares about giving to Trump. During the 2016 campaign, he pledged $1 million to veterans organizations, but didn't actually come through with the money until he was shamed into it. And of course, that's really the least of his sins.
He lies with shameless abandon. He's racist. He obviously conspired with Russia to rig the election in his favor. He's still acting as Putin's lapdog, probably because Putin has compromising information on him.
He jeopardizes our national security on a daily basis, both actively and passively. He uses the office of the president as his own personal ATM machine (in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause). He's shredding our global alliances, and he's putting children in cages.
It's late, and I have to get up for work in the morning. Suffice to say that the pit of Trump's evil and corruption is practically bottomless.
But the big brains over at the National Review, they think the real problem is that Democrats are failing to criticize a guy who gave up a career millions of young men dream about in order to speak out for the oppressed.
That tells you everything you need to know about the complete and utter moral bankruptcy of the American conservative movement.
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